Christmas Day, two weeks later...

"Hey, you've reached Aubrey, leave a message, and I'll get back to ya," I have Aubrey's answering machine memorized at this point; I've been calling every day since leaving Vancouver, and so far, all I've received in return is radio silence. Owen and Jeremy both keep reminding me that she's probably blocked me; even Google says that's what's happening; every call goes straight to voice mail, it doesn't even ring. I still call every day, though, hopeful that maybe she'll unblock me soon and finally let me explain what happened that night. Some days, I'll leave her a message, despite the fact that I know she won't listen to them; but today, I just groan in frustration, hanging up the phone before throwing it onto my bed.

"Char?" Meghan knocks on my door; she sounds worried; my whole family knows everything now, and for the past two weeks, it feels like they've been walking on eggshells around me, careful not to mention anything about the entire situation, "You doing okay?" Meghan walked into the room, sitting on the edge of my bed; she gestured for me to do the same.

"I called her," I said; Meghan nodded, knowing exactly how it went already. Before my family went all silent about the situation, deciding instead to help me move on, we tried everything; I called her on every single one of their phones until eventually, she blocked all of us.

"I'm sorry," Meghan said, frowning at me sadly, "did you try Lilly or Savannah?" The rest of our friends were staying out of it; for the most part, Owen, Jeremy, Madison, and Carolynn all knew the truth, and they reassured me they tried getting Aubrey to listen, but she was stubborn and hurt by what happened that night. Eventually, I told them all to stop; I didn't want Aubrey thinking the only people in her life were choosing the side of the guy who she believed cheated on her, even though we all knew the truth.

"Savannah never answers," I shrug sadly; Owen told me she's staying out of it, Aubrey is her best friend, and she doesn't want her getting hurt again, "and Lilly," I drag of, shivering slightly at the thought; that girl may look small and harmless, but she can be scary when she needs to be when my calls didn't go to her, she'd answer and threaten me, "She kind of scares me,"

"Lilly's harmless," Meghan reminds me; she and Owen always say that but Meghan hasn't actually spoken to her, and Owen is her boyfriend, who tells me he isn't getting in the middle of whatever weird feud was going on between us, "Now, mom sent me up to come and grab you, it's Christmas," Meghan reminded me, replacing her pitiful frown with an excited smile. I place a less enthusiastic smile on my face, standing up hesitantly. Meghan smiles even brighter; walking out of the room, I followed behind, meeting the rest of our family downstairs, around the tree.

"Hey buddy," My mom greeted, waving for me to come sit; I sat next to her; the living room was busier than usual, my brother's girlfriends had all decided to join us for Christmas, which I knew mom loved. I don't dislike my brother's girlfriends, don't get me wrong; it's just, I couldn't stop thinking, if Aubrey and I were still together, real or fake, would we have spent Christmas together? I could imagine it, waking up next to her on Christmas morning and taking cheesy photos in front of the tree in our matching PJ's. Knowing Aubrey, she'd make me stay up all night, watching all the essential holiday films, and even if I were exhausted, I wouldn't complain cause I'm spending time with her.

"Charlie," Patrick called, snapping me out of my thoughts, "You good man?" He asked; everyone in the room looked at me with concerned expressions. I nodded, forcing a reassuring smile on my face; my family all squinted as if they didn't believe me but quickly brushed it off, continuing our Christmas morning tradition. I tried my best to focus on my family and enjoy our day; and it worked for the most part, but every once in a while, something would happen that reminded me of her, and I'd remember that Aubrey Summers hate's me and that no matter how hard I tried, she probably will for a long time.

🤍
A bit of a shorter chapter, but I hope you all enjoy it anyways.